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Journal of Polymer & Composites Original Research Special issue

Experimental Analysis and Predictive Modeling of Mechanical Behavior in Epoxy Composites Reinforced with Waste Tyre Rubber Particles

  1. Sivakumar Sambath School of Mechanical Engineering, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai
  2. Rajasekar Rajendran School of Mechanical Engineering, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai
  3. Sabarish Rajagopalan School of Mechanical Engineering, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai

Abstract

The disposal of end-of-life tyres poses a significant environmental and resource challenge owing to their large volumes and non-biodegradable nature. In this work, we explore the incorporation of waste tyre rubber particles (WTRP) into an epoxy resin matrix to develop sustainable polymer composites and examine their mechanical behavior both experimentally and through predictive modelling. Composites with differing epoxy: WTRP ratios (80:20, 75:25, 70:30 wt.%) and varying rubber particle mesh sizes (4.85 mm, 2.36 mm, 1.18 mm, 1.00 mm) were fabricated and characterized for hardness, tensile strength, modulus and other relevant metrics measured in accordance with ASTM D638, D790, D256, and D2240 standards. The results revealed that finer rubber particles enhanced the hardness of the composite at constant loading, ascribed to improved dispersion, whereas increasing WTRP content resulted in a gradual variation in mechanical properties owing to the softer elastomeric phase. An artificial neural network (ANN)-based predictive model was developed correlating the mechanical responses to composition and particle size, demonstrating good fidelity (R > 0.9997) across the dataset. The findings suggest that optimal combinations of WTRP content and particle size can deliver improved hardness with acceptable trade-offs in rigidity, thereby offering a pathway to valorise waste tyre rubber in high-value polymer composite applications.

Keywords

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